Nutritional information

Recommended by My Albanian Food

Ingredients

250g DryCannellini Beans

3 - 4 LitresBoiling Water

3 TbspTomato Puree

2 DicedOnions

4 TbspSalt

Olive Oil

Directions

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Albanian Grosh (Jani Mi Fasule) is a traditional Albanian dish that is cheap to make, although takes a long process. Different parts of Albania have different names for the white bean soup such as Fasule and Jani me Fasule.

Here I buy the beans in 500g bags which makes two lots of Grosh. The beans are great for keeping in the cupboard as they don’t start to lose their life for a good year.

Note: Some beans only take 2.5 Hours to cook, most beans will be fully cooked at 3 Hours. When cooked the beans are soft.

Tip: To ensure the beans soften and cook through in the grosh, soak the beans in cold water for 3-4 hours before cooking. To get the best out of the salt, try adding the salt in batches while cooking, half a spoon each time a litre of water is added.

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Steps

1

Done

Cooking the Beans

Place the beans in a large saucepan (approx 6 litres deep or more) and fill with water. Put onto a high heat and bring to the boil. Add half a teaspoon of salt.

2

Done

Once boiling, keep at the boil for the full 3 hours of cooking. Stir occasionally adding a litre of water each time the water reaches a low level (approx every 30 minutes). Add half a teaspoon of salt as well.

3

Done

Adding the Flavor

About an hour into the beans boiling, fry the onions in a pan. Once they are starting to brown, add the tomato puree and continue to cook for a further minute. Set aside to cool.

4

Done

Once the beans have been boiling for 2 hours, place the onion mixture into the pot and stir.

5

Done

For the last 30 minutes, leave the water to boil down until 3 hours is up or you have a thicker consistency (The consistency of Grosh is more liquid like then soup). This should leave about a quarter of the pot filled with the Grosh when finished cooking.

My mother taught me to cook the soup similar but when cooking the vegetables in a separate pan about 2hours after the beans are cooking to cut up one large tomato chopped (as opposed to tomato purée), 1 or 2 chopped onions, 1 chopped green and Or 1 red pepper and then once those have cooked for about 5-10minutes and soften, adding a tablespoon of vegeta seasoning and a tablespoon of paprika all in the same pan. Then when done, adding the red mixture in the soup. This is so amazing and has so much flavor. I know some people also add smoked beef and let it simmer but if you’re vegan like me then the vegetables are just enough!

That sounds really yummy! I’m a big fan of making your own sauces so will give this a try next time we have Grosh. We add smocked beef in early months of the year when in Albania as we have our own smocking shed and smock our own meat. (I prefer it without the meat!).